Running Darling
by Walkinthegarden
Summary: Ziva is out for a run when she’s flooded with memories of Lt Roy Sanders. So her morning run leads her to his grave and the meeting of his daughter.


**Summary: Ziva is out for a run when she's flooded with memories of Lt Roy Sanders. So her morning run leads her to his grave and the meeting of his daughter.**

Ziva sat on her bed, lacing up her boots as she got ready for her morning run. She pulled on her yellow jogging outfit and walked over to the shelf. Sitting on it was a bright orange hat. Her hand hesitated to grab it. She put it on her head as she ran out the door to her apartment. She ran her usual routine till she arrived at the spot she and Lt Sanders usually met.

"_Eventually you would have forgotten me," Roy said._

"_Yes, but I never will now," Ziva whispered._

She felt tears fall slip down her cheeks. She closed her eyes. She didn't realize she was running until she found herself six graves away from Roy's stone. A young girl was standing in front of it. She had brown/black and pale skin. She walked closer and noticed that the girl had one green eye and one brown. She was looking sadly down at the grave.

"Hello," Ziva said as she neared the girl who couldn't be older then fourteen. She jumped in surprise as she turned to Ziva.

"Hi," she breathed.

"Did you know him?" Ziva asked. Tears sprang to her eyes.

"Yes, he was my father." She started down at the frost that covered the dying grass. The November wind wasn't doing it any good.

"I thought he wasn't married." Ziva thought back to when she asked about him and how he left everything to his sister. "But he left everything to his sister."

"Yeah, he didn't know about me. My mother left me at my aunt's house after my aunt lost a baby. She never told dad about the death of her baby, so he thought I was that baby. She never told him, and neither did I. He had so much work, and when we planned on telling him…" she looked up at Ziva.

"He got sick," Ziva finished.

The girl nodded, "Yeah." She turned back to the tombstone. "It broke me every time I had to walk out of his house or walked out of mine. He walked away, never once knowing the truth." She gave Ziva a side glance. "I always wanted him to know, but it was never the right time." She closed her eyes before reopening them. "When my aunt went to his house, she found something. It was a yellow bracelet." She held up the bracelet for Ziva to see.

"I knew your father because…" she cut Ziva off.

"I know, you were one the list of agents on his case." She turned to Ziva. "Do you miss him? Or is he just another person to you?" Ziva could tell from the girl's eyes that she knew the answer.

"I think about him every time I run, which is every morning," Ziva answered.

"How is she? I'm sure you've seen her." It wasn't a question.

"She's guilty, I hear from the guards that she cries herself to sleep every night and sometimes screams his name in her sleep," Ziva answered. The young girl closed her eyes, which looked like they were begging for sleep.

"I hate her so much, yet, I feel sorry for her," she whispered.

"Me to," Ziva whispered. "She never wanted to kill him."

"She just wanted to make him sick," the young girl finished.

"I, um, I have to go to work, but I'd like to see you again," Ziva said quietly.

"I'm here every morning, you can find me here," she said with a smile. The girl smiled lightly to Ziva. She started to walk off, into the November fog.

"Wait!" Ziva called. The girl turned to look at her. "What's your name?" She smiled at Ziva as she half turned.

"My name is Hannah, Hannah Sanders." She turned and disappeared behind the cloak of white fog.

0-o-o-o

Ziva sat at her desk writing a report when a man walked up to her. "Are you Special Agent Ziva David?" he asked her. Gibbs, Tony, and McGee looked up.

"Yes."

"I'm here to deliver a message," he said looking down at her. "Hannah, died of cancer two nights ago." Ziva gasped as her eyes misted. The two had been meeting with each other for the past two years. Neither Gibbs or the team knew; Hannah'd never told her that she was sick. Why hadn't she told her? She'd wondered why Hannah'd stopped calling and meeting with her, but she'd though… "She asked for us to give this to you." He handed her a blue envelope. She looked at it for a moment before she took it.

"Thank you," she murmured to the man. She ignored the confused and questioning faces of the team and simply looked down at the envelope. _Ziva David_, was written neatly on the front. She opened it. A smaller envelope fell out, along with a letter.

_Dear Ziva,_

_I'm so sorry I never told you about my illness. I hate it so much, it is my worst weakness and I'm not a person that's used to being weak. I don't want to be sick, but I am and their is little I can do to change that. I just want you to know that nothing is your fault. It's not your fault you didn't see it; I'm good at hiding things._

_I also want you to know that I thought of you as a second mom to me. You were a great help and I really enjoy your company. Please don't cry, I'm one less person to bring harm to the world. I want you to be happy. Find a good man for yourself, have children. You deserve so much Ziva and yet you get so little. You are an NCIS agent and that stops you from having a love life. I would recommend Tony, but from what you say he's not one to settle down, so that rules him out. Just don't settle for less then you deserve, ok, Ziva?_

_I've carried this on me ever since we met…_

_Hannah Sanders_

Ziva closed her eyes as tears slipped down her face. She picked up the smaller envelope and opened it. The yellow bracelet fell out, a not attached.

_Dad said you dropped this one day. I think he'd have wanted you to have it._

That was all the note said. Ziva put all four items in her bag and continued to type on her computer. She left eventually, suddenly. She just grabbed her bag and coat and ran to the elevator before anyone could stop her. If DiNozzo had decided to snoop later, he would have seen her screen saver. It was a picture of her and a fifteen year old girl. Under it, it read: _May she rest in peace._

0-o-o-o

**A/n Hi everyone, this is my first story and I hope you like it. :) Review please. Flames not welcome, constructive critisisum yes.**


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